OS Open Roads

OS Open Roads is a high-level view of the road network, from motorways to country lanes in Great Britain. The links represent an approximate central alignment of the road carriageway and include roads classified by the National or Local Highway authority.

  • Networks
  • Download
  • OS OpenData Plan (FREE)
  • Premium Plan
  • Public Sector Plan

This product is updated every six months

Representation of data provided
Representation of data provided
© Crown copyright and database rights. Ordnance Survey 2024

What OS Open Roads provides you with

Capture answers to road questions

How many miles of roads are there in the country? What and where’s within 10 miles of this location? OS Open Roads lets you answer questions like these.

Work with definitive road information

By underpinning your reporting tool with OS Open Roads, you’ll give highways teams a head-start on fixing issues like potholes.

OS Open Roads

Technical information

© Crown copyright and database rights. Ordnance Survey 2024

Specifications

Use cases

The OS Open Roads product may be used for applications such as, but not limited to:

  • assigning information to the road network for both personal and business use
  • high-level analytical queries, for example, how many kilometres of road there are in Great Britain, an individual country or a region
  • simple drive time analysis, for example, what is within a 25-minute drive of any given location?
  • identifying community problems and reporting back to a relevant authority.
Access
  • Download
Data theme
  • Transport
Data structure
Vector - Topologically structured link and node network
Coverage
Great Britain
Scale
1:15 000 to 1:30 000
Format
  • ESRI Shapefile
  • GeoPackage
  • GML 3.2.1
  • Vector Tiles
Ordering area
  • All of Great Britain
Publication months
  • April
  • November
OS Data Hub plan
  • OS OpenData Plan (FREE)
  • Premium Plan
  • Public Sector Plan

Documents and Support

Getting started guides

  • OS Open Roads - Overview
    The overview introduces the product and gives context for all users. It highlights key features, provides examples of potential uses for the product and lists details like file sizes, supply formats, etc.
    pdf
    v2.3
    276 kb
    1 April 2021
  • Getting started with GeoPackage
    This guide helps you to get started using GeoPackage - a lightweight format that can contain large amounts of complex data in a single, easy to distribute and ready to use file.
    pdf
    v2
    1.11 mb
    30 September 2021
  • Getting started with vector tiles
    This guide will help you to get started using vector tiles (MBTiles) – lightweight tiles that are efficient and quick to render in your software, letting you create customised, high-resolution, beautiful mapping.
    pdf
    v1
    845 kb
    23 September 2022

Technical specification

  • OS Open Roads - Technical specification
    The technical specification provides detailed technical information about the product. It is targeted at technical users and software developers.
    pdf
    v2.3
    849 kb
    3 May 2021

Supporting documents

Release notes

Additional information

OS Open Roads coverage

OS Open Roads is available to download as a national set. The product has been split into 100km2 so you can work with the specific area you require easily.

In-vehicle navigation requirements

OS Open Roads is not suitable for use for in-vehicle navigation systems. For the route restriction information that your users would need, such as one-way systems, width and height restrictions, we recommend OS MasterMap Highways Network.

OS Open Roads

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What you get

Key features
  • Capture answers to road questions
  • Work with definitive road information
Category
Networks
Access
  • Download
Data structure
Vector - Topologically structured link and node network
Update frequency
Every six months

How to access

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